Metal grain door



Feb. 12, 1924. v 1,483,576

G. G. GILPIN METAL GRAIN DOOR Filed Jan. 5, 1.923 3 Sheets-Sheet i 15200/2 for G. G. @Zpfn N fit M G. G. GlLPlN METAL GRAIN DOOR Feb. 12 1924.

Filed Ja n. a, 1.922 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Eve/liar fla /2K fifforney Feb. 121924. 1,483,576

G. s. GILPIN METAL GRAIN noon g Q l i A 3 Mmmmw' 3 l s Aflorngy i IPatented Feb. 12, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GARTH G. ILPIN; or RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, AssIGNoR To UNION METAL PRODUCTS1;

COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

METAL GRAIN DOOR.

Application filed January 3, 1922. Serial No. 526,602.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GARTH Gr. GILPIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Riverside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Metal Grain Doors, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates ,to improvements in side doors for freight carsand more particularly to a metal grain door.

It is an object of this invention to provide a sidedoor that is mountedand operated similar to the usual freight car side door,

yet which will, when closed and locked, be

grain tight so that the car when not carrying grain may be used forother lading and will need no conversion for grain carrying.

lVhile not necessary to its invention it is preferable to construct thisimproved door of light weight metal plates strengthened by corrugationsor pressed ribs.

l/Vhile the preferred form of this invention is illustrated upon theaccompanying sheets of drawings, yet it is to be understood that minordetail changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates in side elevation a .portion of the side of a freightcar showing this improved sidedoor in closed and locked position.

Fig. 2 is a view in section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1, illustrating thegrain opening and hinged covering plate in open position.

Fig. 4: is a View in side elevation of a portion of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view of an upper corner of this door inclosed and locked position.

Fig. 6 is a View in section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a view in section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 1, enlarged andi1lustrating the lower locking means.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 1illustrating the supporting rollers.

To make the door in closed position grain tight it is proposed toprovide a half round beading about the exterior of the bottom and sidesof the door frame, provide the door with a corresponding depressionadapted to receive the heading when closed, which necessitates that thedoor be mounted for reciprocation in the closed position, and means forholding the door against the car side with its depressions about thebeading.

In carrying out this invention the door 1 is preferably of metal, asshown, made in two or more sections which make it practical to use thinmetal reinforced by corrugations and facilitates the forming of thedepressions 2 about its sides for receiving the frame beading. Thebeading 3 is preferably formed by securing metal plates 4 to the innerportions of the sides and bottom of the door frame which plates areextended exteriorly thereof and then bent in a half round away from theopening, as illustrated, which construction not only provides theheading 3 but also reinforces the edges of the door opening. To causethe beading to be continuous the bent upward semicircularly at thecorners with its beading joined to the side frame beadings.

The door may be supported in any desired manner and in this form isillustrated as supported upon a plurality of door supporting rollers, 6mounted in roller brackets, 7 secured to the exterior of the car sidebelow the door opening. About each side and continuing across the bottomthe body of the door is provided with a pressed out rib forming adepression 2 on the inner side of the door which in the closed positionof the door will lay over and when moved towards the car side willreceive and engage the door frame beading 3. To allow ofthereciprocation of the door to and from the car side, the door isprovided with an outstanding door supporting flange 8 at the bottomwhich travels over the rollers. The rollers and brackets are of theusual construction except that the door rollers have longer shanks thanusual which position'them further from the car side and a sufficientdistance to allow the door to be pulled outward over them to clear thedoor frame beading.

It is preferable to construct the door supporting flanges 8 of angleiron with one flange depending and secured to the door body, which alsowill act as a stop to pre vent the door being pulled outward entirelyover the rollers. The top of the door is preferably provided with achannel 9 interlockplate 5 on the bottom is ing with a channel 10secured to the car side above the door opening to act as a guide andalso protect the door from the weather and is of a usual construction,one flange of the channel of the car side being extended upward at rightangles and secured to the car and one flange of the door channel beingextended downward at right angles for a purpose later to be describedand secured along the web of the channel to the body of the door. Theother flanges of the respective channels interlock and this constructiondeparts from the usual form of this typerin that both channels aredeeper to allow of the reciprocation of the door for the purposedescribed.

From this construction it is seen that while the door may be freelymoved toopen and closed positions in the usual manner with but littledeparture from the usual supporting means, it may in closed posi tion berendered grain tight by moving the door body towards the car side. Inorder to accomplish this movement mechanically and secure the door ingrain tight position it is preferable to provide two series otlockscomprising a pair of spaced apart bolts 11 at the top and a pair ofspaced apart bolts 12 at the bottom preferably mounted to reciprocate onthe outer surface of the door with the outer end of each bolt cut at anangle and adapted to be received within a socket. the contacting of theangular surfaces of the bolt with the sockets wedging the door againstthe car side. As'shown, the bottom bolts pass through guides in the doorsupporting flange 8 to engage sockets 13 in brackets secured to the carside below the door in a manner similar to the door roller brackets. Theupper bolts pass through guides secured to. the door body below the doorinterlocking channel to engage sockets ll formed by a bracket dependingbelow and secured to the web of the car side interlocking channel. It ispreferable to operate the corresponding bolts of each pair in unison andto. this end operating levers 15 are pivoted intermediate their lengthon the outer sides of the car body with the one end of the leverpivotally connected to the end of one bolt and the other end of theother bolt pivotally connected to the lever an equal distance on theother side 1 of the lever pivot so that by up and down movement of thefree end of the lever the bolts will be reciprocated at the same time tosecure or release the door from grain tight position. To add to therigidity of the door body the sidesare provided with angle irons 16secured thereto with the outstanding flange in line with the edge of thedoor and to form protection against sparks and the weather similar angleirons 17 are secured to. the car side on each side of the door framesothat when the door is closed and pressed against the car side the doorbody will be received between the car body angle irons and any spacebetween the door edge and car side will be covered.

T 0 provide means for loading and unloading grain the upper panel of thedoor is in the form of a hinged plate 18 having an integral inwardlyextending flange 19 about the bottom and sides. This plate is preterablyof light metal having reinforcing corrugations, extends upward behindthe depending flange of the door channel and hinged thereto, as shown.The portions 20 between the ends of the hinged plate on each side aresecured to the back of the web of the door channel and to the panelbelow and atl'ord space for the passage of the top bolts thereover. Theopening closed by the hinged plate is provided with an outstandingflange 21, preferably in the form of an angle iron, about its sides andbottom which is received within the flanged edges of the plate. To holdthe hinged plate in different open positions a rod is hinged to theupper part of the plate having the lower free end adapted to be engagedin one of a series of stops 23 secured on the side flange of theopening. A bolt 24 adapted to slide through a guide on the door bodynear the opening is provided to enter a socket 25 on the outer side ofthe plate to hold it in closed position. This bolt preferably extendsdownward towards the bottom of the door and is adapted to form a lockfor the other bolts by having secured thereto a semi-circular stop 26above the ends of the operating lever handles 15 with the bolt passingbetween them so that the stop prevents upward movement of the handlesand the bolt passing through a guide under the handles secured to thedoor. The lower end of the. bolt is bent at right angles and in thelocked position the bent end 27 will lie parallel to the door and isadapted to. pass between the lugs of a car seal 28 so that neither thehinged plate nor the door can be unlocked without breaking the seal.When the seal is removed the bent handle may be rotated out of the seallugs and then may be pulled down to release the hinged plate, thesemi-circular stop being a sutlicient dis-. tance above the leverhandles to allow this limited movement but from its shape will stilloverlie the ends of the handles and prevent their operation. To releasethe door bolts the'bolt handle is rotated through 180 from its sealedposition which moves the semi-circular stop from over the plane 01: thelever handles allowing their being pushed up to release the door bolts.

By this arrangement the door may be closed and locked in grain tightposition and held in locked position but allowing the hinged plate to beopen for the introduction of the discharge nozzle of a grain chute andafter the car has been filled, the hinged. plate locked, and then bothdoor and plate locking mechanisms sealed so that neither can be unlockedWithout breaking the seaL,

What I claim is:

1. In al'reight car having aside door opening and a side door supportedto close and uncover said opening, a beading about the exterior of thedoor opening and a corresponding recess upon the inner side of the dooradapted to receive and engage the beading to form a grain tight closure,said door support allowing reciprocation of the door transversely ofthecar, and means for holding the door in closed grain tight position,comprising sockets secured to the car sides and bolts mounted upon thedoor adapted to-be operated to engage the sockets and Wedge the dooragainst the car side.

2. In a freight car having a side door opening, a metal side doorbeading about the exterior ing, a depression corresponding theretopressed in the inner side of the door, door rollers mounted on the carside below the door opening, a guide and door cover mounted on the carside above the door opening, a supporting flange upon the bottom of thedoor adapted tomove longitudinally and transversely over the doorrollers, a guide member at the top of the door adapted to movelongitudinally and transversely With the guide and door cover, thetransverse movement of the door allowing inclosed position to engage orfree the door recesses and heading; bolt sockets secured to the car sideabove and below the door opening, bolts on the door when closed adaptedto engage in the sockets to Wedge the door into grain tight position.

GARTH G. GILPI N therefor, a metal of the door open-

